


Two Brothers, Two Souls

by Lilnerd3696



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 02:03:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12288885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilnerd3696/pseuds/Lilnerd3696
Summary: '“Mrs Rockbell,” Roy said as she turned to leave. “What about Alphonse Elric?”“He’s by the house,” she replied after a small pause. “The grave on the right.”'Based off 'we haunt ourselves' by sekalaista cause damn was that a good idea (and fic)





	Two Brothers, Two Souls

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [we haunt ourselves](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2506151) by [sekalaista](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sekalaista/pseuds/sekalaista). 



_Ed had gotten used to this smell. Not of hospitals per say, but of the unmistakable smell of healing. From the sterile military hospitals to the skeevy back rooms and quick patch ups, that one smell was the same. Although Ed tended to find himself in the second establishment rather than the first, due to his…  due to him._

_Most people, upon waking to find they were in a hospital, would open their eyes, maybe flag down a nurse. But Ed lay there, eyes closed, and silently grieved._

_***_

5 years ago, Roy was too late. He arrived in Resembool to find a still smoldering house and two unmarked graves behind it. The old automail mechanic (Pinako Rockbell, he recalled) looked at him with sad eyes when he greeted her on the porch of her shop.

“Gone,” she had said when he’d asked where the Elric brothers were, and that was all that need to be said in his opinion. Still, reports and higher ups wouldn’t accept ‘gone’.

“Edward left three days ago. Didn’t even ask for automail, the idiot.” She puffed on her pipe. “I wouldn’t go after him if I were you.”

“Oh?” Roy wondered if she said that to protect him or Edward.

“The boy needs some peace.” Her eyes flicked down to look at Roy and Riza’s uniforms. “The military won’t give him that.” Pinako quietly extinguished her pipe, then closed the open picture album she’d been looking at. Roy had already gotten a good look at the three children heavily featured in the pictures. Two boys (the Elric brothers, he presumed) and a blonde, smiling girl. Pinako heaved herself off the porch steps.

“Mrs Rockbell,” Roy said as she turned to leave. “What about Alphonse Elric?”

“He’s by the house,” she replied after a small pause. “The grave on the right.”

Roy left Resembool with a heavy feeling in his chest, and a young girl’s eyes staring at his back from the second story balcony.

***

Paninya wasn’t sure about the new kid in town.

He seemed nice enough - he said ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, and she’d once seen him give a few coins to one of the beggars on the street. And seeing as his purse wasn’t that full to begin with (she’d put it back of course, she had some lines she wouldn’t cross)...

But as nice as he was, there was something off about the guy. He went from quiet and polite to swearing up a storm when someone had commented on his height. When a fake alchemist had shown up, trying to scam everyone, he’d _destroyed_ the guy and run him out of town. Only verbally, although Paninya knew if he wasn’t lacking two limbs he would’ve done it physically as well.

She watched him hobble down the street on one leg and a crooked crutch. Automail mechanics were eyeing him up as they had been since he arrived. She wasn’t sure why he’d turned them away. Why come to Rush Valley and not get automail?

Perhaps, Paninya thought, it was the mechanics themselves, and not the automail. With that in mind, she dropped down from the rooftop she was standing on and weaved her way through the crowd towards him.

“Hey! Kid!”

He turned, a scowl on his face. “Who the hell are you calling a kid? We’re the same age.”

Paninya had to give him that. “Sure. Why aren’t you getting automail?”

“Cause.”

“Cause why?"

“Cause reasons I ain’t telling you.” He turned his back on her and began walking away.

“I have a gun in my leg,” she called out. “My mechanic could give you one as well.” When the guy stopped she knew she’d made the right choice. _Boys and their badass things._ This one screamed ‘skulls and flames’.

“I don’t have enough money, but I can do repairs and such for payment.”

Paninya wondered how he could repair anything with two missing limbs, but she of all people knew not to underestimate anyone because of that. “You’ll have to take that up with Dominic. If it helps, he did my legs for free. I’m Paninya, by the way.” She didn’t hold out her hand to shake.

“Ed,” the guy said. As he faced her, she was struck by how _old_ his golden eyes were.

“Lead the way.”

***

_Ed knew he wasn’t the only one in the room. He could hear at least two other people breathing, the clinking of metal, and humming._ Winry.

_She was softly humming a song his mother used to sing, back when he and Al weren’t broken, back when she was still alive and_ smiling.

 

_Though the world may try to define you_

_It can’t take the light that’s inside you_

_So don’t you dare try to hide_

_Let your fears fade away…_  

***

It had been three years since Izumi had last see the Elric brothers, and there had been no letters sent to her house. She tried not to be disappointed; knew they were growing up and had no need for her at the moment, but it still stung.

She breathed in the fresh air as she slowly walked the streets of Dublith. Today was a good day, a pain free day - one of the first in months. She’d already dropped by the shop to tell Sig she was out and about, and was intent on having a peaceful stroll.

“Get out of here!”

_So much for peaceful._

Outside a nearby house, a woman was shooing away a cloaked man with a broom. “Go away!” She yelled as she whacked the man with the broom, a disgusted look on her pinched face. When she had deemed the man far enough away she hurried back into her house and slammed the door shut behind her. The man stood alone in the street, hunched over as if in unmeasurable pain, although the broom could have only left bruises at most. Izumi found herself approaching the man.

“Oi.”

She instantly regretted the unfriendly greeting. The man flinched away from her, and she raised her hands up. “Don’t worry. I come in peace. Are you alright?”

He nodded quickly, and scuttled away into an alley. Izumi was distantly reminded of the little lizards that inhabited the town. She didn’t bother running after him, although she reminded herself to tell Sig about this later, and talk to the strange man if she saw him again.

***

A year later found her lounging in the Devil’s Nest with a Homunculus and a bunch of human chimeras, and she still isn’t quite sure how it happened.

***

Hughes was nearly bowled over as a kid ran out of the alley he was passing and slammed into him. Through some miracle, he (and the kid) managed to stay upright, but his briefcase was sent crashing to the ground. The papers and info Roy had given him scattered across the pavement.

“You alrigh-”

“Hey!”

Hughes _did not_ startle at the loud bellow, merely looked down the alleyway the kid had come from. Two hulking and bloodied men stopped dead in their tracks as he levelled his best ‘disappointed’ glare at them. Effective on assholes and Roy, and overkill for Elicia. And apparently _extremely_ effective on these two. They lasted five seconds before turning tail and running. Hughes turned back to the kid, only to find him staring in horror at the papers.

“Kid?”

Galvanised into action, the boy snatched them up and hurriedly shoved them into the briefcase. Confused, Hughes bent down to help. Within seconds the two of them had everything back in the suitcase, and the kid slammed it shut and shoved it at Hughes. He noticed, distantly, that there was now blood smeared on it.

“Don’t let them see it,” the kid hissed, golden eyes dark with fury. Hughes felt like he’d just been hit in the head with a shovel.

“Don’t let _who_ see _what_?” He whisper-yelled, and the boy froze halfway through making a break for it.

“You don’t know?”

“Know what? What the papers mean?”

The kid nodded frantically.

“No, that’s what I’m trying to find out.”

It was like a switch had been flicked. One second the boy had been poised to flee at any second, with fire blazing in his eyes, and the next he was still and calm, the fire now dulled to a warm light.

“We can’t talk here.”

***

_Ed sunk back into sleep while Winry sung. He wasn’t sure how he did, not with the horrible empty feeling in his chest._

_Al was gone. They had won, but Al was_ gone.

***

Roy had just been about to leave when Hughes called, begging him to come over and look at Elicia’s ‘lovely drawings’. He put up a mild fight for show before agreeing, and broke the speed limit multiple times on the way to his best friends house. Gracia opened the door with a wan smile, directing him towards the study after handing him a plate piled high with sandwiches.

“Hughes?” He called out as he pushed the study door open. When he walked in he nearly dropped the plate.

Hughes was sitting in the desk chair, pale face twisted in horror as he stared at the map on the desk. But what caught Roy’s attention was the boy flicking through a thick wad of scribble covered papers. He was muttering under his breath, one pen behind his ear and another clutched in his gloved hand. There was an intense look on his face, a look that Roy felt uncomfortable seeing on the face of a boy that couldn’t be older than 13, 14 at the most.

Hughes looked up at him as he walked in, and motioned for Roy to close the door behind him. The boy didn’t look up, not even when the door clicked shut, but he did gesture towards the desk.

“Plate. Desk. Now.” Something flashed across his face. “Please,” he added, as if prompted. Roy placed the plate on the desk after sending a questioning look at Hughes. As soon as the plate touched the desk the kid shoved the pen in his hand behind his other ear, and grabbed a sandwich with his free hand.

“F’anks,” he said, mouth full. Roy managed to keep a blank, disgust-less, face.

“This is Ed,” Hughes said, as if that explained everything. “He bumped into me on the way home. Briefcase got knocked open, and he recognised them.” He looked up at Roy, face still as white as a sheet. “It’s not good Roy.”

Ed swallowed, and dropped the papers on the desk. “So here’s what’s up.”

Roy dragged over the chair in the corner of the room and sat down on it hard five minutes into Ed’s tale. It sounded too horrible to be true, and yet… It explained things. Explained the mysterious Laboratory Five that Fuery had found and briefly investigated before it had blown up. Explained why Amestris was so military focused, why the Ishaval Extermination had to happen, why-

“How do you know this?” Roy asked. Ed shrugged.

“I know people and have a habit of sticking my nose into the wrong places.”

“And I suppose you also have first-hand knowledge of human transmutation, which would have helped.”

Both Ed and Hughes froze, Ed with his hand reaching for the last sandwich. Roy smiled benignly. “I got a quick look at your childhood photos when I was sent to Resembool to find you. According to Mrs Rockbell, I just missed you. Edward Elric.” He said the boys full name with a sense of finality. Hughes eyes widened slightly, no doubt remembering what Roy had told him.

“So,” Ed whispered, hand dropping back down to his side. “What are you going to do?”

Roy, always one for dramatics, let the silence grow before answering. “Nothing.”

Ed stared at him.

“You’ve helped us uncover a plot that will destroy an entire country. Not only will I not arrest _or_ report you, I might even help you get out of the country after this is over, if you so wish.” Roy turned to address Hughes. “Are you alright putting him up? If not, I have a couch.”

Hughes smiled, the action somehow coming easily to him even after all that had transpired in the small office. “Of course! Elicia will be glad to have someone knew to play with…”

Roy quietly left the room as Hughes continued to gush to Ed about his daughter. His head was still spinning, but already he was building plans and backup plans and backup plans of the backup plans. This wasn’t going to be easy, and he had a few people to visit.

***

_When Ed next woke, the room was silent. He cautiously opened his eyes. No one was sitting at his bedside, or standing guard by the door. Although, the government had just been overthrown. Maybe there was no one available to watch him._

_He pushed himself up with his right arm, but paused halfway through when he realized he could feel the starchy sheet beneath his palm. Falling back against his pillow, Ed stared at his now flesh-and-blood right arm. Tears gathered in his eyes as he remembered Al’s apology, the blue flash-_

_The room was empty, so he allowed the tears to fall._

***

Hughes came home one day to find the State Alchemist Killer talking with Ed in his office, along with a Prince and Princess from Xing, and two masked bodyguards looming in the shadows.

“Sup Hughes,” Ed casually greeted him, flicking through a journal of sorts. “I found some allies.”

Hughes left the room, closing the door behind him, and headed straight for the liquor cabinet. He could only be thankful that Gracia and Elicia were at Gracia’s parents for the night.

***

Roy wasn’t sure where Ed went when he disappeared. One minute he’d be laughing in Hughes’ lounge with Elicia, the next he’d be gone, the next he’d be back in Hughes’ spare room, bloody and starving. The boy never said a word about where he’d been, and after the third time Roy stopped asking.

Gracia welcomed him in with a smile. “Hughes is running late,” she said. “But Ed’s back if you want to talk to him.”

He nodded, smiling in return. Faint sounds of playing were coming in from the lounge, but they were quiet, so Roy headed down the hall towards Ed’s room. He knocked twice on the shut door, then opened it and walked in without waiting for an answer. Perhaps he should have, Roy thought as he stared at the shirtless boy sitting on the bed.

“The fuck!” Ed squawked, hands flying up to cover his chest - no. To cover the alchemy rune carved into the skin over his heart. Roy stared at it.

“I could say the same thing,” he said, voice hoarse. “Why do you have a blood seal on your chest?”

Ed bared his teeth at the Colonel, quickly grabbing a shirt and shrugging it on. “None of your business.” He stood up and tried to slide past Roy and out of the room, but the older man grabbed his arm. Ed stiffened.

“Elric-” Roy stopped. “ _Edward._ ”

To his shock, Ed didn’t try to escape. He stood there, eyes avoiding Roy’s, but he didn’t run. “It’s Al,” he said so quietly Roy almost didn’t hear. “There wasn’t anything else there, and I couldn’t lose him. I couldn’t-”  he broke off, took a deep breath, and _changed_.

His shoulders dropped down, his limbs loosened, and when he looked up at Roy, it was like he was a different person. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Colonel Mustang,” Al said softly, a small smile gracing Ed’s face.

***

_The cold floor burned his feet, and he felt exposed in the hospital gown, but he couldn’t stay here. He couldn’t just lie there like nothing was wrong, like there wasn’t this horrible empty space next to his heart._

***

Ed’s entire body _burned_ . He could feel the metal rebar sticking through his left arm, and as the Dwarf in the Flask approached he knew it was over. _Don’t say that Brother!_ Al screamed in the back of his head, but Ed simply pushed Al back. If he was going to die, he didn’t want Al to feel anything he didn’t have to

The Dwarf reached out with a shaking hand. Ed closed his eyes. He could hear Hohenheim calling out, could hear Hughes screaming his name, could feel Al doing something…

_Brother…_

_Win._

Ed screamed as his body pulsated with blue light. _I love you,_ Al whispered, and Ed had two arms again. _I love you,_ Al whispered, and Ed had a hole in his heart.

He slammed his hands together. Al was gone, and Ed had nothing to lose.

He tore the piece of metal out of his arm and launched himself at the Dwarf, alchemised spear in hand. The spear tore through the Dwarf’s eye, and he noticed that it took a while for the monster to heal.

From the sidelines, the friends and allies he had made cheered him on, no longer yelling his name out of fear, but out of hope.

The Dwarf’s face made a satisfying crunch as Ed punched it. He thought about saying something witty, but his mind was blank, only focused on _winning,_ and making sure no one else he cared about died today.

***

_Ed slowly opened the door. Like his room, the corridor was also empty. He wondered where everyone was, before deciding he didn’t really care. As long as he could sneak out…_

_He crept down the hall, passing closed doors. Behind a few he could hear muffled conversations._

_Footsteps echoed down the hall, and as Ed dashed into the closest room he hoped it was empty._

***

The Dwarf in the Flask collapsed into itself, winking out of existence, and Ed didn’t feel anything. He was vaguely aware of someone grabbing him, more yelling ( _hadn’t there been enough of that?_ ), and someone gently lowering him to the ground as his eyes slid shut...

***

_He pressed his forehead to the cool metal door, chest heaving. The short sprint had tired him way more than usual._

_“Brother?”_

***

Ed spun around, the quick movement nearly sending him crashing to the ground. His back slammed against the door, and

Al lay in the hospital bed, his tiny frame dwarfed by the blankets he was wrapped in. Long, unwashed hair framed his sunken face, and his arms were as thin as twigs, but there was life in those golden eyes.

“Al?” Ed croaked. His heart was pounding, trying to escape through his throat. He was dreaming, right? Al was gone, he had died, he had given up his soul to give Ed back his arm, this was some cruel dream-

“Brother!” Not-Al tried to sit up, tried to get off the bed, and before Ed even knew what he was doing he was gently pushing Not-Al back into the pillows. “Brother,” Not-Al repeated, weak fingers grabbing Ed’s wrist. “I’m here. I’m real, I’m real, I promise you.”

Ed didn’t realise he was crying until Al wiped away the tears streaming down his cheeks. Al was talking, and he dimly heard something about Hohenheim, but Ed was focused on the feeling of Al’s fingers around his wrist and the light brushes against his cheeks. Al was alive.

“Al,” he sobbed, hands clutching at his brother. “Al. Alphonse. Alphonse. _Al_.”

Somehow, Al managed to pull Ed up onto the bed, and he carefully wrapped himself around his little brother. He was too thin, too frail, but Ed could fix that. Ed could fix this.

***

They both awoke a few hours later to find a homemade quilt thrown over the both of them and Hughes snoring in a chair in the corner. Ed quietly suggested throwing something at him to wake the older man up, but Al’s loud laughter seemed to do the trick. Ed nearly cried again at the pure joy on his brother’s face, but managed to keep it in.

One after another, people streamed in till the room was packed. It was too loud to be allowed, but no nurses came in and told them off. Ed supposed they had a pass, although as Greed led his chimeras in a chorus of a bawdy song they’d heard in Dublith, and Hughes yelled at them and tried to cover both Elicia and Al’s ears at the same time, he wondered how long that pass would last.

**Author's Note:**

> AO3's being a butt and won't let me link properly but there's art now! It's by alison pls check it out it's AMAZING
> 
> https://j-quests-drabbles.tumblr.com/post/170589937848/alison-12-i-really-loved-your-fanfic-so-much


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